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Reflections from BIG Difference BC 2025

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The BIG Differences BC 2025 conference showcased the quality and range of behavioural research being produced by this community. Here are three takeaways:

1. Complex ≠ Complicated. Study complex systems, but keep your insights clear, your experiments well-defined, and your language accessible.…

2. Evidence-Based Policy Must Be a Two-Way Street. Understanding policymaker constraints before designing studies helps make research relevant and impactful.…

3. Build an Adaptable Playbook. Move beyond a focus on the moment of decision-making by considering the complex systems that shape behavior and decisions….

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Using the Force of Behavioural Systems Mapping – How BSM Can Help Take Down the Empire (and Tackle Policy Challenges)

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At BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG), the challenges we face are evolving and so are our approaches. Today’s complex, interconnected challenges require adaptive, holistic and collaborative approaches. That’s where behavioural systems mapping (BSM) comes in. It’s a method that blends behavioural science with systems thinking to help us map out the relevant actors, their behaviours and how these influence and interact with one another to impact the desired outcome.

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Boosted Brains: Using Heuristics to Our Advantage

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Heuristics are simple decision rules, rules of thumb, or mental shortcuts that enable us to navigate the world and make decisions quickly and without conscious effort. Boosting focuses on heuristics’ usefulness. It is the process of training individuals to deliberately use heuristics when they lead to accurate, unbiased, and nuanced decisions, and avoiding them when they lead to systematic errors.

Complementary Disciplines: Change Management & Applied Behavioural Science

Today’s novel, complicated challenges require innovative solutions that reach across traditional disciplines. Thinking about which disciplines to pair together? Consider change management and applied behavioural science: With their shared roots in helping people change their behaviour, change management and behavioural science are complementary approaches that strengthen each other.

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My Road to BC BIG: Using BI to Meet the Challenges of Diverse Societies

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As a doctoral candidate in political science at the University of British Columbia, Isabel Chew wanted to know: How does ethnic identity shape political attitudes and behaviour in Southeast Asia? The search for answers to questions like this as well as a belief behavioural insights could play a part led her to take on her new role at the BC Behavioural Insights Group.